Made to be Broken
by Tierney Beckett
Summary: Sheppard wants Sam to let him do something a bit strange.  Is she willing to give him free reign?  Crossover with SG1


Disclaimer: Don't own it, never will.

Author's Note: Short one shot, obviously. Inspired during, of all things, my forced viewing of the Cowboys game this past Sunday when one of Troy Aikman's records was almost broken or something like that. Put off because of the Red Sox game that no one HAD to force me to watch. Pretty silly, but I hope you enjoy.

Spoilers: General Season 4 of Atlantis and my favorite ep of SG1

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''Atlantis – Office of Colonel Samantha Carter

"Absolutely not, Colonel."

John Sheppard took a deep breath and went in for the kill, wearing his most charming grin as he did so.

"But everyone needs to have fun once in a while. This could loosen things up on both ends. We're at war with the Wraith here. They're dealing with the Ori there. Fun is good in the middle of war. Didn't you ever watch MASH?"

Sam rolled her eyes and shook her head, half-irritated and half-amused by her friend's persistence. She sometimes wondered if working with Sheppard was meant as a military test for the limits of patience. As if she hadn't proven her limitations over the past ten years with the various members of SG1.

"This is not a TV show, Colonel. This is real. And what you're suggesting is…well, it's hardly top priority. In fact, it's not a priority at all. I'm beginning to regret that I ever even told you the story. I should've kept it to myself."

She was on the receiving end of that grin again. An expression she was getting to know quite well and was already wishing that she'd never seen. She wondered just how much trouble Sheppard had been able to wriggle out of in his lifetime relying only on that grin.

"It isn't like he broke regulations or something when he did it. He just did something that-."

"Wouldn't be approved by Stargate Command?" Sam finished. "Which is precisely why I'm not approving it now. You must be insane to even think about it. I can't imagine how much it would stir the IOA up. Possibly even General Landry. They might pull me out of here."

Sheppard shook his head and Sam was pleased to note that a spark came into his eyes at the thought. At least she wasn't hated. That was something.

"Didn't you say General O'Neill was going to be there?" he asked. She sighed, knowing where he was heading with this. Hoping to stall him, she got up and picked up a report that she had promised to get to McKay before the next databurst. She left the room, noting with disappointment that he was not deterred. He followed her, not even caring where they were headed.

"Yes, he's going to be there," she replied as they walked through the halls. "General Landry's going to be out of town for a week or so and Ja-General O'Neill wants to see how things are going. So he'll be temporary commander of the SGC when we send the databurst through."

There was that grin. Luckily, she had the excuse of watching where she was going and didn't have to see it for very long.

"See? Landry won't even be there. General O'Neill will appreciate it. And I doubt he'd tell anyone."

Sam bit back another sigh. She had no doubt that General O'Neill would, indeed, appreciate it. But she was trying to set an example here. She still didn't have a very strong foothold in Atlantis. She still felt like she was a little bit out of her element. For the first time in a long time, she was the outsider. The past few months had given her much more sympathy for Vala's point of view. How would it look if she let Sheppard do this undeniably bizarre thing? Sam prepared her 'and that's final' look and stopped, then turned to face Sheppard.

And that's when the halls of Atlantis melted away. She was at Jack's cabin, sitting by the lake with him, Daniel, and Teal'c. All four had met up there the week before Sam's departure. And she heard the voice of her former CO in her head.

_"Just remember to loosen up every once in a while, Carter. Discipline and order alone don't make a good leader. I know you know that. But being in charge of an entire city of people and being in charge of a team….it's a different ballgame. A bigger stage. A larger pond. Insert cliché here. Let 'em have some fun once in awhile. And don't forget to do that yourself, too. All work and no play make Jack a grumpy boy."_

"_I believe it's 'dull boy', sir."_

"_Not when it comes to me. Grumpy fits better. Eventually, everyone needs to have a little fun. Even you. Why do you think I always tried to drag you and Space Monkey out of your labs?"_

"_Jack," the warning tone came from Daniel, who resented the nickname being dragged out. Sam smiled._

"_I understand, sir. Thank you."_

"Alright."

Sheppard stared at her for a second, obviously not sure if he had heard correctly. When he realized he wasn't just hearing things, his grin grew even bigger.

"Thank you, Colonel Carter."

Sam grinned back at him.

"Get out of here before I change my mind," she said.

"Yes, ma'am."

Once he was out of sight, Sam shook her head a little, still not sure if this was exactly what General O'Neill had in mind when he had dispensed his advice. Oh, well. What was the old saying? All's fair in love and war.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''Three days later – Stargate Command

Jack grinned at the image of Sam as Walter informed him that the databurst had been received successfully.

"Well, Carter, I guess we've got everything we need. How are things going over in the Pegasus Galaxy?"

She smiled back at him, hearing the unspoken question in his words. _How are you doing over in the Pegasus Galaxy?_

"Everything's going very well, sir, considering the circumstances."

Jack nodded in understanding. _I'm fine, but I miss all of you._

"I took some advice of yours, sir, and if you don't mind, we have one final thing to send through. An object, actually. You….uh….you may want to clear the gate room, sir."

Jack raised an eyebrow at this.

"Carter?"

"Nothing overtly dangerous, sir, but the velocity of the object might cause damage to anything in it's direct path. I'm not exactly sure of the trajectory-."

"Ah!" Jack cut her off and Sam bit back a grin. She was cheating, trying to make it sound scientific. But at least it was working. She could see Jack motioning for the clearance of the gate room below. He looked back at her and nodded.

"Alright, Carter. Send it through."

He saw her nod to someone off-camera and his eyes grew wide as an object whizzed through the stargate into the gate room, bouncing off the opposite wall and then falling to the floor. He looked back up at Sam's image.

"Object received. Explanation requested."

Even with the grainy image, he saw her eyes sparkle with mischief.

"Colonel Sheppard attached a note to the object, sir, explaining the reason for it's arrival. Atlantis out."

The wormhole shut down and the screen went dark. Jack shook his head and made his way down to the gate room to get the object himself. Just as Sam had said, it was wrapped in paper that was held in place with a rubber band. Taking the rubber band and paper off, he had to smile when he saw what it had covered. A golf-ball imprinted with the insignia of the Atlantis expedition. He wondered how long it had taken to get that done and who had done it. Smoothing out the paper a little more, he grinned even wider when he saw the 'explanation'.

'Sir,

All records are made to be broken.'

* * *

And, that's it. I know. Very short. Kinda stupid. But it was stuck in my head and wouldn't get out. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Review! Love reviews! 


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